A new report from the National Hurricane Center showed Hurricane Ian reached Cat 5 strength just before it weakened back to Cat 4 and made landfall in southwest Florida.
Winds reached 161 mph based on a review of aircraft reconnaissance data. The report summarizes its inception in the Atlantic by strengthening to 150 mph winds at landfall on September 28, followed by the destruction left in its aftermath.
Ian caused over $112 billion in damage in total with $109 billion of that in Florida alone. Ian’s 166 deaths make it the fourth-deadliest U.S. hurricane of the past 60 years.
This was Florida’s seventh deadliest hurricane over the last 60 years with 66 direct deaths mostly related to storm surge.
Maximum water inundation levels of 10 to 15 ft Above ground level occurred on Fort Myers Beach and Estero Island. Survey crews found the highest marks, approximately 15 ft above high tide water levels, inside the second story of beachfront structures.
Due to the devastating toll, the World Meteorological Organization retired Ian’s name and replaced it with Idris.
During the off-season, meteorologists at the NHC parse through troves of data collected during the storm for a post-storm analysis. Much information like storm surge requires time to assess the actual water level based on debris and water marks left on buildings.
NHC reanalyzes every storm and may change it in postseason reports as it did during an upgrade with Hurricane Andrew from a Cat 4 to Cat 5.